# Do we no longer announce poster name changes? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 10, 2021, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-no-longer-announce-poster-name-changes/952276 "2021-10-10T23:25:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2021, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-no-longer-announce-poster-name-changes/952276/1 "2021-10-10T23:25:45Z")
It’s helpful to know who we are reading or conversing with. Thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2021, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-no-longer-announce-poster-name-changes/952276/2 "2021-10-10T23:49:19Z")
We haven’t announced name changes in many, many years. It can be helpful if a user posts the change somewhere (we used to recommend adding it to your sig line) but there’s no requirement that they do so. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2021, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-no-longer-announce-poster-name-changes/952276/3 "2021-10-11T00:00:35Z")
Are you alluding to anyone in particular? (was supposed to be a response to @D_Anconia) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2021, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-no-longer-announce-poster-name-changes/952276/4 "2021-10-11T00:06:32Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Are you alluding to anyone in particular? (was supposed to be a response to @D_Anconia) - He’s not sure who. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2021, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-no-longer-announce-poster-name-changes/952276/5 "2021-10-11T00:15:22Z")
How about a sticky in ATMB for people to announce name changes? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2021, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-no-longer-announce-poster-name-changes/952276/6 "2021-10-11T00:29:32Z")
That sounds like a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2021, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-no-longer-announce-poster-name-changes/952276/7 "2021-10-11T02:08:05Z")
I suspect some people who request a name change may wish to disassociate themselves from their previous username. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2021, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-no-longer-announce-poster-name-changes/952276/8 "2021-10-11T04:09:44Z")
On a board where socks are forbidden, do we want people to be able to do that? – I can see it in cases of gender transition; but do we want people to be able just to disassociate themselves from previous posts and posted opinions/positions? ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2021, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-no-longer-announce-poster-name-changes/952276/9 "2021-10-11T04:13:39Z")
Their profile wouldn’t be changed, and I believe that all their previous posts would be updated with the new name, so they would still be connected. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2021, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-no-longer-announce-poster-name-changes/952276/10 "2021-10-11T04:31:25Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > On a board where socks are forbidden, do we want people to be able to do that? Just to note that we’ve allowed name changes here for a long time. They aren’t common, but they’re not unheard of. And, as @k9bfriender notes, a user name change gets retroactively applied to all of their old posts, so it doesn’t let someone actually “disassociate themselves” from previous posts. I think, to @Telemark’s point, there may have been some who have changed their user names because they no longer felt good about what their previous user name indicated or suggested about them. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2021, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-no-longer-announce-poster-name-changes/952276/11 "2021-10-11T08:42:07Z")
People generally announce their name change if it’s just that they feel the old name no longer fits. Changing your name to disassociate yourself from your posting history doesn’t usually work too well for the above reason and the fact that people don’t really change all that much. People will soon notice that poster B acts a lot like poster A, connect that with poster A suddenly no longer posting and the gigs up. I’ll be a bit vague here so as not to drag up old news, but at one time a poster that had been, let’s say controversial, had left the board (maybe banned, but I think just left) and later asked to come back under a new name or just made a sock. The poster was outed in no time. I can’t remember if someone noted similar posting styles or if someone the returning poster had trusted with the new name told other people, but soon the whole board knew about it. Bottom line, there are very few long lasting secrets here. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2021, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-no-longer-announce-poster-name-changes/952276/12 "2021-10-11T09:05:46Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > We haven’t announced name changes in many, many years. Weren’t there an unusual number of name changes when we migrated to Discourse? A lot more than the usual number? Might that be a reason to have a notification or a listing of at least those name changes? ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2021, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-no-longer-announce-poster-name-changes/952276/13 "2021-10-11T12:09:37Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > People generally announce their name change if it’s just that they feel the old name no longer fits. Or for even more mundane reasons. I first signed up for the board as **slowmovingvehicle**. But, being something of a grammar Nazi, I didn’t like the lower case or the way all three words ran together. So **TubaDiva** changed it to **Slow Moving Vehicle** for me. Then in the transition from vBulletin, it became **Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle** , because Discourse doesn’t like multi-word usernames. There was obviously never any idea to disassociate myself from my previous posts; it was just correcting a minor annoyance (to me). ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2021, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-no-longer-announce-poster-name-changes/952276/14 "2021-10-11T13:37:15Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > as @k9bfriender notes, a user name change gets retroactively applied to all of their old posts, so it doesn’t let someone actually “disassociate themselves” from previous posts. Ah. That makes quite a difference. Thanks to both of you for info. > [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > Weren’t there an unusual number of name changes when we migrated to Discourse? A lot of those were closely enough related to the original name that it was easy to connect them; they were just fitting names into the limited Discourse forms. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2021, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-no-longer-announce-poster-name-changes/952276/15 "2021-10-11T14:36:06Z")
Those weren’t name changes but socks created by people who weren’t able to login using their old vBulletin username. So there are two separate accounts with two separate post histories. An administrator would be able to merge the two accounts but we don’t have anyone in that role at present. I believe we were told not to do this but instead to contact @engineer_comp_geek who could assist people in logging in using their old account. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2021, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-no-longer-announce-poster-name-changes/952276/16 "2021-10-11T15:06:22Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > Bottom line, there are very few long lasting secrets here. Indeed, going back and reading old posts, the new user name will show up _except for when they were quoted_, then you see the old user name. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2021, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-no-longer-announce-poster-name-changes/952276/17 "2021-10-11T15:56:52Z")
Yep, it’s incredibly easy to find out. Just search on the user name and start at the oldest posts. In any longer thread it’s likely someone replied to them. Even easier, just PM them and ask. I think most posters would probably tell you. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2021, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-no-longer-announce-poster-name-changes/952276/18 "2021-10-11T20:05:55Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > I believe that all their previous posts would be updated with the new name, so they would still be connected. On other D-boards I use, changing the names in quotes doesn’t happen, like (IIRC) it did on vBulletin. Let’s say I’ve quoted Alex in a reply. They later change their name to Ben. All of Alex’s posts will change to the new username. But quotes of those posts won’t. Instead, my quote will show a greyed-out generic avatar and the greyed-out, unclickable name Alex, followed by whatever text I’d quoted. What will change is the name in the upper right corner of my post, the one beside the date. That will update to the new name. So there is still a connection, at least as long as Alex/Ben was the only person I quoted in my reply. [![](https://i.ibb.co/9Nh1BBW/Alex-To-Ben001.png) ](https://i.ibb.co/9Nh1BBW/Alex-To-Ben001.png) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2021, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-no-longer-announce-poster-name-changes/952276/19 "2021-10-11T20:28:14Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > We haven’t announced name changes in many, many years. I seem to recall several threads in which users announced their _own_ name changes. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2021, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-no-longer-announce-poster-name-changes/952276/20 "2021-10-11T20:49:37Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > A lot of those were closely enough related to the original name that it was easy to connect them; they were just fitting names into the limited Discourse forms. There were some, though, who were sufficiently unhappy with the way that Discourse mangled their names that they decided to change to something completely different. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-no-longer-announce-poster-name-changes/952276.md?page=2)